The Shajapur administration on Sunday served notice to a private hospital in the district for tying an 80-year-old man to a bed with ropes for reportedly failing to pay hospital bills.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, Laxmi Narayan from Khilchipur tehsil in Rajgarh district, who was admitted to the hospital after complaints of a stomach ache, is seen lying in bed with his ankles tied together and fastened to the hospital bed.
Taking cognisance of the incident on Saturday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted: “A matter relating to the cruelest behaviour with an elderly citizen at a hospital in Shajapur has come to my notice. The accused won’t be spared, strictest action will be taken.”
A team comprising the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, a medical specialist and the District Health Officer visited the hospital, but the elderly man and his family had already left, District Chief Medical and Health Officer Prakash Vishnu Phulambrikar said.
“A tehsildar has been sent to the elderly man’s village to record his statement,” said Dr. Phulambrikar. “The hospital has been asked to respond within 48 hours. If found unsatisfactory, further action will be taken against it.”
“We are tracing the hospital’s owner who had gone to another city,” said Additional District Magistrate Manjusha Vikrant Rai.
The case sheet of the patient, added Dr. Phulambrikar, revealed he was suffering from seizures. The hospital has asserted it had to strap him to the bed owing to convulsions.
“Still this is not the way,” said Dr. Phulambrikar. “During convulsions, we use bandages available at hospitals if required, but not ropes.”
Meanwhile, the patient’s daughter said they had first deposited ₹6,000 as fee, and later another ₹5,000. “We told the hospital we can’t pay any further and asked them to remove the catheter so that we can take him home,” she said.
In order to secure his discharge, and get the case file, she was told another ₹11,270 would have to be paid. “They didn’t give us the file, so when we started leaving the hospital, and father was coming behind me, they grabbed him, took him inside and strapped him to the bed,” she said.
Describing the act “inhuman” and “barbaric”, former Chief Minister Kamal Nath tweeted, “During this corona pandemic, inhuman behaviour, fleecing and arbitrariness is continuing in several private hospitals of the State. There is no one to listen to the public. The government should take strict action over the incident.”
